Thursday, November 27, 2008

Health update - volume 2

Last Friday I visited the specialist to get the results of my CT scan.
The diagnosis was Crohns disease: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crohn%27s_disease, which is sort of what we expected. This is a bowel disorder that is chronic and causes varying degrees of functionality due to unexpected 'flare ups' and discomfort possibly for the rest of my life.

One option is surgery to remove the affected part of my small intestine (about 15 inches). The other option is to wait it out, as the doctor said "You could go on living normally for 5 years before another flare up". I will be meeting with a surgeon in the near future to discuss options. We have really valued the input of others who have similar conditions. The doctor also said that I am pretty much back to full strength and am not scheduled to see him again for 6 months.

So we're really thankful for all your prayers and support during this time! I've never been in a situation where there's uncertainty about my health and all of you have made us feel well cared for over the past few months. Not sure what the future holds but it is difficult at times to slow down and face hard realities when we're so excited about what God is doing.

This is the contradiction of life I guess. Strong when we are weak. As Rich Mullins put it:
We are frail, we are fearfully and wonderfully made
Forged in the fires of human passion
Choking on the fumes of selfish rage
With these our hells and our heavens so few inches apart
We must be awfully small and not as strong as we think we are


Thanks again for your prayers,
Shawn

Monday, November 24, 2008

The sayings of Sylas v19

The other day we were talking about Lukas' latest loose tooth:

Shawn: Sylas, do you believe in the tooth fairy?
Sylas: No way, we keep all our teeth in a jar
Shawn: What about Santa Claus?
Sylas: ...he doesn't believe in the tooth fairy either!

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

The day evangelicalism died

Isaiah 1:5: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint.

Today marks the death of Western evangelicalism.

It's 2 years to the day since Ted Haggards fall from grace and only now he feels safe to open up about his deepest wounds

Am I condemning him? No
Am I condemning Christianity? No
I am condemning the evangelical smiley-face system that shuns true openness about sin and problems and pushes things into closets.
I am condemning the church-on-sunday suits-and-pews, pretending we have it all together that keeps people from truly sharing their struggles.

I am heart broken that it has taken Haggard this long to finally speak out about being taken advantage of sexually as a child. In all his years in churches, conferences, seminars was he unable to find anyone to confess to??? Was no one able to help him? In all the glory of the evangelical system did it ever come up? Did anyone pray for healing in this area of his life?

He was the head of the NAE!! There was no one higher in evangelicalism! But still the system would not allow him to open up about his deepest secrets. Think about it. Would you actually feel comfortable opening up about your deepest darkest secrets to those in your church? Could you see yourself requesting prayer for deep wounds you suffered as a child? Or does the evangelical system tend to sweep those issues further and further under the rug each and every Sunday?

Folks, what is the point of this whole charade if our churches are not places where we feel safe opening up and finding forgiveness?

RIP Western Evangelicalism - Rest in Pieces

Monday, November 03, 2008

New stats on Thorncliffe from 2006 census

Every time Canada does a census the data is released slowly, by category. Recently released statistics confirm some amazing trends in Thorncliffe:

1. Even though Thorncliffe has the largest elementary school - the largest demographic is not even in school yet!! 0-4 year olds!!!

Here -> http://www.toronto.ca/demographics/cns_profiles/2006/pdf1/cpa55.pdf


2. Despite already having the largest South Asian community in Canada, the South Asian population has actually doubled since the 2001 census!!

Here -> http://www.toronto.ca/demographics/cns_profiles/2006/pdf2/cpa55.pdf

Go Thorncliffe!!!

Here is the link to the City of Toronto neighbourhood profile:
http://www.toronto.ca/demographics/cns_profiles/cns55.htm